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002563 and as these land uses intensify, the water situation will become more critical. Expanding range, wildlife, recreation, and agricul- tural uses, as well as urban development, will strain local water sources on the public lands. Better management of existing water sources will be required. Certain higher beneficial uses of the public lands have been limited because of prior appropriation of available water; e.g., in many instances, the sale or transfer of public lands may result in their development for irrigation. Large public sales for recreation and public purposes are contemplated within the area, particularly near the Colorado River. The possible sale of large tracts of land at Eldorado Valley and Fort Mohave, to the State of Nevada, was authorized by special legislation. Similar special acts authorizing transfer of "public lands to Lincoln County and the city of Henderson in Nevada contemplate intensive development with high water requirements. These developments will intensify water-supply problems. Need for a Regional Water Plan The present economy of the Pacific Southwest area is being maintained by the overdevelopment of ground-water supplies. This extractive process cannot continue indefinitely without SOme local and overall detrimental effects. The greatestfuture water need in the Pacific Southwest will be for municipal and industrial purposes caused by the population growth. On the other hand, the agricultural economy must not be allowed to decline. Future conditions will place greater emphasis on other beneficial uses of water, including recreation, fish and wildlife, and quality control. These water demands can only partially be met from existing water supplies within each area. Arizona urgently needs mOTe water, without which it will face a slowly withering economy as the ground-water bank account shrinks. Southern California, as a.result of the Supreme Court opinion, will have to curtail its Colorado River diversionso Western New Mexico needs upstream water conservation and control facilities to expand its historically water-restricted economyo Southern Nevada requires additional water to provide for its phenomenal population growth. Southern Utah needs water conservation and control facilities to overcome seasonal shortages of surface-waterG The precepts under which the Department of the Interior has historically acted have never encouraged the development of one area to the detriment of another. The diminishing of an existing economy, or the retarded development of another, carries nation- wide implications. In the Pacific Southwest, defined for the 11-14